The trained shark spotter was dragged to shore and given CPR in front of his horrified family members, but rescuers could not save him.

His death comes weeks after his best friend Alexandre Naussac, 26, died on a nearby beach on the French island, which lies off the coast of Madagascar.

Dubosc was a member of Shark Watch Patrol which is dedicated to cutting down spiralling shark deaths on the island.

Alexandre Naussac, 26, was taken by a shark at Reunion two months before friend Adrien Dubosc died. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Adrien Dubosc, 28, was bitten in the leg in shark-infested waters. Picture: FacebookSource:Supplied

Police said the experienced bodyboarder was in the water with two friends when he was attacked.

“The young man was in the water with two friends, when a shark attacked him, biting his right thigh, and his groin area,” a police spokesman said. “The victim was pulled out of the water, and emergency workers arrived very quickly. Despite cardiac massage, he died within half an hour of the attack.”

Dramatic photographs show the man’s body being carried away on a stretcher.

Paramedics were also pictured holding the shark attack victim’s bodyboard.

Alexandre Naussac, 26, was one of nine people taken by sharks off Reunion in the past six years. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

The attack was close to where his friend Naussac was also mauled to death by a shark.

Dubosc’s death will intensify the shark crisis on Reunion, which is by far the most dangerous place in the world for shark attacks.

The island, which is just 65 kilometres long, has seen some 15 per cent of all the world’s fatal attacks over the past five years.

Dubosc is the ninth person killed by a shark off Reunion in the last six years, while 12 more have been injured.

French authorities have insisted they are tackling the problem with nets and boatpatrols, and by catching and killing about 100 sharks a year.